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Got any recommendations for a good vintage computer to get started with that's more advanced than the C64? I took a course on C64 assembly and it was pretty goo

Got any recommendations for a good vintage computer to get started with that's more advanced than the C64? I took a course on C64 assembly and it was pretty good but I wanted to learn something a bit more complex but not as complex as a modern architecture.

kordlessagain 5y ago
The Amiga had a 68000 chip in it and dedicated graphics and audio hardware which enabled it to be quite a bit faster than the C64.
daggersandscars 5y ago
Any of the 68000-based machines may be worth a look. Atari ST, Amiga 500/1000, early Macs. There are also SBCs available that use the 68K. An early-ish 8086/8088 PC clone is a possibility, but the Atari/Amiga/Macs will have better graphics options and won't have segment/offset memory addressing.
- buescher 5y ago
  A 680x0-based workstation could be really interesting for someone into that kind of thing, but an Amiga would probably be the most fun.
  - rbanffy 5y ago
    The advantage of Unix workstations is that they are still useful as X terminals. But then they aren’t much simpler than our modern desktops running their own Unixes.
    - buescher 5y ago
      I'm thinking an eighties workstation like a Sun 3. If you can find one, an SGI Indigo or early NeXT cube. Much closer to an Amiga than to a modern system, but even more funky and exotic hardware. I wouldn't consider an X server running on one of those "still useful" but others might disagree.
      - rbanffy 5y ago
        I used an IBM PPC-based 43P as a work machine for some time. It can't run a modern browser, but back then using NetBeans running on my laptop was perfectly doable. Using Emacs and a terminal will work really well. Using one of these machines as a workstation is not much different from an older Raspberry Pi - you'll need to do the heavy lifting on the other side of the network anyway. The killer feature of this specific 43P was that it came with a gargantuan Intergraph CRT monitor.
- Hublium 5y ago
  I feel like the Atari ST is the second easiest one to get into (after x86), because they share the floppy format with PC's.
  - rbanffy 5y ago
    Its hardware is also much simpler than the Amiga’s.
Lio 5y ago
I'll add to the other suggestions with any of the Acorn Risc OS line[1]. They're the original Arm based computers (not counting the development processor for the BBC Micro) and some of the earliest system on a chip computers. Might be fun if you fancy playing with Arm assembly language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes#Later_A-series_models https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes#Later_A-serie... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC [1] I say Risc OS but they actually also supported a Unix like called Risc ix.
NegativeLatency 5y ago
I’ve been working on getting a Macintosh II to boot A/UX a sys v Unix. My eventual goal is to use it for doing the K and R C exercises, and just generally see what Unix was like.
- chevill 5y ago
  That sounds like a really interesting project.
  - NegativeLatency 5y ago
    http://aux-penelope.com/ http://aux-penelope.com/ There are some resources here if you’re curious and want to see screenshots. (Not my site)
- kjs3 5y ago
  AU/X was a pretty weird Unix, an SVR2 base with various SVR3 and BSD bits bolted on, all topped off with a mostly-functional (classic) MacOS 7 emulation layer. It wasn't much like other, contemporary Unixen. I did some rather serious time with it in a previous life, and really grew to hate it.
  - NegativeLatency 5y ago
    Got any other old Unix recommendations? Was hoping to find xenix or some other old x86 one I could use. What did you use A/UX for?
    - kjs3 5y ago
      SCO Unix (or OpenDesktop or whatever they're calling it now) would be an example of a 'state of the art' x86 Unix before Linux matured. I, however, was always more fond of Dell Unix SVR4 for x86; a more 'pure' Unix. Install images are 'around'. It's new enough to be familiar and comes with a bunch of extras (like a pile of ported GNU tools). Interactive or Microport SVR3 are a little more old-skewl, if that's where you're at. Xenix is very old school, and shows you what you can to with very limited x86 hardware (esp Xenix for the 8086 or 80286), and you'll find a lot of tools you might want don't compile for various reasons (like a K&R C compiler). Other folks shipped an x86 SVR3 or SVR4, but they generally added very little to the AT&T code base. If you go the emulated route (e.g. SIMH), I'd go with BSD 4.3 or Sun SunOS 3.5. That's where I started out with Unix so there's a lot of nostalgia there.
dTal 5y ago
Not quite sure what you're after but you can get a Voyage 200 graphing calculator for not much more than a RasPi now - it's got a Motorola 68000, a qwerty keyboard, a sunlight-readable screen, a serial jack, a useful OS with many games, a C IDE, a disassembler (both onboard!)... and it runs on 4 alkaline batteries.
danielrpa 5y ago
Try the Commodore Amiga!

kordlessagain 5y ago

The Amiga had a 68000 chip in it and dedicated graphics and audio hardware which enabled it to be quite a bit faster than the C64.

daggersandscars 5y ago

Any of the 68000-based machines may be worth a look. Atari ST, Amiga 500/1000, early Macs. There are also SBCs available that use the 68K. An early-ish 8086/8088 PC clone is a possibility, but the Atari/Amiga/Macs will have better graphics options and won't have segment/offset memory addressing.

buescher 5y ago
A 680x0-based workstation could be really interesting for someone into that kind of thing, but an Amiga would probably be the most fun.
- rbanffy 5y ago
  The advantage of Unix workstations is that they are still useful as X terminals. But then they aren’t much simpler than our modern desktops running their own Unixes.
  - buescher 5y ago
    I'm thinking an eighties workstation like a Sun 3. If you can find one, an SGI Indigo or early NeXT cube. Much closer to an Amiga than to a modern system, but even more funky and exotic hardware. I wouldn't consider an X server running on one of those "still useful" but others might disagree.
    - rbanffy 5y ago
      I used an IBM PPC-based 43P as a work machine for some time. It can't run a modern browser, but back then using NetBeans running on my laptop was perfectly doable. Using Emacs and a terminal will work really well. Using one of these machines as a workstation is not much different from an older Raspberry Pi - you'll need to do the heavy lifting on the other side of the network anyway. The killer feature of this specific 43P was that it came with a gargantuan Intergraph CRT monitor.
Hublium 5y ago
I feel like the Atari ST is the second easiest one to get into (after x86), because they share the floppy format with PC's.
- rbanffy 5y ago
  Its hardware is also much simpler than the Amiga’s.

Lio 5y ago

I'll add to the other suggestions with any of the Acorn Risc OS line[1]. They're the original Arm based computers (not counting the development processor for the BBC Micro) and some of the earliest system on a chip computers. Might be fun if you fancy playing with Arm assembly language. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RISC_OS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes#Later_A-series_models https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes#Later_A-serie... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risc_PC [1] I say Risc OS but they actually also supported a Unix like called Risc ix.

NegativeLatency 5y ago

I’ve been working on getting a Macintosh II to boot A/UX a sys v Unix. My eventual goal is to use it for doing the K and R C exercises, and just generally see what Unix was like.

chevill 5y ago
That sounds like a really interesting project.
- NegativeLatency 5y ago
  http://aux-penelope.com/ http://aux-penelope.com/ There are some resources here if you’re curious and want to see screenshots. (Not my site)
kjs3 5y ago
AU/X was a pretty weird Unix, an SVR2 base with various SVR3 and BSD bits bolted on, all topped off with a mostly-functional (classic) MacOS 7 emulation layer. It wasn't much like other, contemporary Unixen. I did some rather serious time with it in a previous life, and really grew to hate it.
- NegativeLatency 5y ago
  Got any other old Unix recommendations? Was hoping to find xenix or some other old x86 one I could use. What did you use A/UX for?
  - kjs3 5y ago
    SCO Unix (or OpenDesktop or whatever they're calling it now) would be an example of a 'state of the art' x86 Unix before Linux matured. I, however, was always more fond of Dell Unix SVR4 for x86; a more 'pure' Unix. Install images are 'around'. It's new enough to be familiar and comes with a bunch of extras (like a pile of ported GNU tools). Interactive or Microport SVR3 are a little more old-skewl, if that's where you're at. Xenix is very old school, and shows you what you can to with very limited x86 hardware (esp Xenix for the 8086 or 80286), and you'll find a lot of tools you might want don't compile for various reasons (like a K&R C compiler). Other folks shipped an x86 SVR3 or SVR4, but they generally added very little to the AT&T code base. If you go the emulated route (e.g. SIMH), I'd go with BSD 4.3 or Sun SunOS 3.5. That's where I started out with Unix so there's a lot of nostalgia there.

dTal 5y ago

Not quite sure what you're after but you can get a Voyage 200 graphing calculator for not much more than a RasPi now - it's got a Motorola 68000, a qwerty keyboard, a sunlight-readable screen, a serial jack, a useful OS with many games, a C IDE, a disassembler (both onboard!)... and it runs on 4 alkaline batteries.

danielrpa 5y ago

Try the Commodore Amiga!